Disparities in Precarious Workers' Health Care Access in South Korea

作者：Min Jin Young; Park Shin Goo; Hwang Sang Hee; Min Kyoung Bok^*

来源：American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 2016, 59(12): 1136-1144.

DOI：10.1002/ajim.22658

• precarious employment
• health inequality
• medical access
• income inequality

Background This study explored whether precarious workers have difficulties in health care access as compared with non-precarious workers.
Methods The 2008 Korean Community Health Survey data were used for this study. Information was obtained on 51,322 participants (40,514 non-precarious workers and 10,808 precarious workers). Precarious workers were defined as part-time or contingent workers.
Results Precarious workers had significantly higher risk of limited access to hospitals (OR = 1.14; 95% CI: 1.06-1.22) and dentists (OR = 1.28; 95% CI: 1.21-1.36) than non-precarious workers; disparities in doctor contacts among precarious workers were mostly linked to not having enough money. The risk of not receiving preventive care-medical checkups (OR = 0.52; 95% CI: 0.49-0.55) or cancer screenings (OR = 0.82; 95% CI: 0.77-0.86)-was also significantly elevated among precarious workers.
Conclusion We found that precarious workers had more difficulty accessing health care or receiving health checkups or cancer screenings than their non-precarious counterparts.

• 出版日期2016-12